Psychology AS and A Level

Psychology tries to answer the questions of why people behave as they do, how they think and how they feel. It looks at these questions using a variety of scientific methods such as experiments, interviews and questionnaires.

During your AS course, you will study memory, attachment between children and their parents, stress, obedience, abnormal behaviour and research methods.

The topics you will investigate in your A2 year are biological rhythms, relationships, eating behaviour, depression, addictive behaviour and advanced research methods.

Classes will allow you to undertake research into these topics and introduce you to a wide range of interesting studies that psychologists have carried out in trying to understand these behaviours.

This is a popular course taken by students who are keen to engage with a new subject and be taught by experienced, enthusiastic subject specialists.

The course is assessed through exams, there is no coursework. You will have plenty of practice in exam techniques and help from your teachers who have themselves worked as examiners in the subject. The exams have short answer questions, essays and interpretation of data. To do well you will need to be able to remember factual information, interpret questions and be able to write concisely.

Students who have studied Psychology often go on to university to study it further, but may also study or work in related areas such as teaching, business, social work or the police.

Psychology can be taken with any other subjects, in particular science subjects, especially Biology, but also History, Geography, Law, Business Studies and Sociology.

Entry requirements:

• Five GCSEs at grades A*-C including English and Mathematics
• A GCSE average points score of at least 5.0 (see page 16 for details of how this is calculated)
• You do not need to have studied Psychology before, but if you have, you will need to have GCSE at grade A*-C.